Newcrest profit rises, pays first interim dividend

Australia's top gold producer, Newcrest Mining, has recorded a 14 per cent rise in first half profit compared with the same period the previous year.

The company says the net profit of $176.2 million for the six months to the end of December can be attributed to higher profit margins and gold prices, which have off-set lower copper and gold sales.

The managing director and chief executive, Ian Smith, says the company is in a strong position and has declared its first interim dividend of 5 cents per share.

"We've been flagging for a while that our capital management would be such that every six months that we would review the situation for the company and declare a dividend or otherwise at that time," he said.

"So this is flagging that indeed we are reviewing our position every six months, and this is the first interim dividend declared by the company."

The company says it is confident about the future, but has not provided any guidance on its full-year earnings.